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Uesugi and Ikeda Out of Sunday's Hokkaido Marathon

On Aug. 24 the organizing committee of Sunday's Hokkaido Marathon announced that elite women Mao Uesugi (Starts) and Chiharu Ikeda (Hitachi) have withdrawn from the race. Uesugi has tested positive for coronavirus, while Ikeda sustained an injury to her left ankle during training.

Translator's note: This news follows last week's announcement that 2020 Olympic marathon trial winner Honami Maeda (Tenmaya) had withdrawn from Hokkaido with COVID-19. With a 2:22:29 in Osaka in January Uesugi was the fastest woman in the original field, with Maeda 3rd at 2:23:30 and Ikeda 5th at 2:26:50. Uesugi is also entered in November's New York City Marathon. Still on the women's list in Hokkaido, a major chance to qualify for next year's Olympic marathon trials, are:

Natsumi Matsushita (Tenmaya) - 2:23:05 (3rd, Osaka Int'l 2022)
Haruka Yamaguchi (AC Kita) - 2:26:35 (7th, Osaka Int'l 2020)
Miharu Shimokado (SID Group) - 2:29:20 (12th, Tokyo 2022)
Yui Okada (Otsuka Seiyaku) - 2:30:03 (14th, Tokyo 2022)
Yuko Kikuchi (Hokuren) - 2:32:08 (23rd, Nagoya 2022)

No men have been reported to have withdrawn with corona or for other reasons.

source article:
translated by Brett Larner

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Stefan said…
This must be a huge disappoint for the race organizers. I hope Mao Uesugi can recover fully and quick enough as to not hamper her New York City Marathon training. I guess all eyes will be focused on Natsumi Matsushita to see if she can deliver a PB and/or gain MGC qualification. It would be nice to see a surprise from the athletes not expected to do so well.
August 26, 2022 at 5:16 PM
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